I'm so used to typing "the Coen Brothers" that I forget at times they are two individual people with their own artistic interests. Well, the upcoming The Tragedy of Macbeth was written and directed by only Joel Coen, making it his first solo outing. 

Ethan Coen told the Los Angeles Times in 2019 that he was “giving movies a rest” in order to explore things like plays and other ventures. 


But now, the brothers' longtime composer Carter Burwell said on a recent episode of the “Score” podcast that Ethan is done with movies for a while, and that the two brothers were going their separate ways.

He elaborated, saying, “Ethan just didn’t want to make movies anymore. Ethan seems very happy doing what he’s doing, and I’m not sure what Joel will do after this. They also have a ton of scripts they’ve written together that are sitting on various shelves. I hope maybe they get back to those. I’ve read some of those, and they are great. We are all at an age where we just don’t know… we could all retire. It’s a wonderfully unpredictable business.”

My heart stopped a little at the idea of any or all of them retiring, but I get it. Working in this town is getting harder and harder, especially with studios favoring intellectual property and tentpoles. The Coens are no strangers to working with streamers, having released The Ballad of Buster Scruggs onto Netflix. 

Joel Coen's The Tragedy of Macbeth will follow suit, but this time with Apple TV+. A24 is producing the movie, which will be theatrically released by A24 followed by global launch on Apple TV+. It will have its world premiere at the 2021 New York Film Festival on September 24, 2021.

What do you think about Ethan Coen stepping away from cinema for a while? Let us know in the comments.